Many distributors, if not most, lead with their products or business opportunity. However Mike teaches that you should never lead with your product or opportunity.

Instead, Mike equates network marketing with a franchise.

Why a Franchise?

The reason franchisees are willing to invest a large amount of money is because they know that people are going to want the product the company offers. They also know that the franchise has a proven system they will be able to tap into.

Within network marketing, Mike Dillard says you also need to set up your MLM business like a franchise model in order to maximize your prospecting success as well as maximize the amount of money you are able to make from your business.

Lead Generation and Cash Flow Generation

Most MLM distributors fail because it is extremely difficult to market your MLM Company's products or business opportunity. The reason is because you are forced to play the game of "my product is better than XYZ" or "my compensation plan is the best in the industry."

A better approach is to set up a system that serves two purposes.

First, it should generate and sort through prospects so that you can spend your time talking to the most interested prospects.

Second, it should include a product that generates up front cash that keeps you in business and pre-sells your prospect on your business opportunity.

Pre-Selling Your Network Marketing Business Opportunity

Suppose you were targeting busy corporate executives that make great money but have no time freedom.

Most MLM distributors would talk about how great their product is, how great their compensation plan is and how much money the corporate executive can make if he or she gets started in this opportunity.

If you follow the MLM franchise model, your approach would be completely different. Instead of leading with the product or opportunity, you would instead lead with a retail product.

Your product might be an information product that teaches corporate executives how to build a business part time and eventually replace their full time income.

In your product, you can offer strategies and techniques that busy corporate executives can use to get their business up and running part time. You can focus on prospecting strategies that work for a busy person.

Since most corporate executives have excess cash flow you can even talk about how to set up systems that leverage their time so they don't have to do as much of the leg work.

Finally in your product you can offer information about your specific business opportunity and how well it works for corporate executives who get started and follow the system as you outlined in your retail product.

Three Ways to Make Money with Your Marketing System

With this strategy you make money from the corporate executives who buy your retail product but don't get started in the business.

You make even more money from corporate executives who buy your retail product and do get started in your MLM business.

In addition, you have trained the corporate executive through your information product. Therefore your new network marketing distributor will be able to get up and running much faster.

Contents at a Glance

1. The MLM Franchise Business Model